


Man's best friend

by nopex3 (Imsuretheyarentinlove)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Dogs, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Puppies, Sonny is a great cook
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5347586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imsuretheyarentinlove/pseuds/nopex3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sonny love dogs, Rafael has a dog.</p><p>Coincidence, or a sign that they belong together?</p><p>Only time will tell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Man's best friend

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic was inspired by this post ( http://clowchan.tumblr.com/post/134413643556/sassy-ada-barba-clowchan-sassy-ada-barba ) about what kind of dog Rafael would have. I chose a Dachshund because they are genuinely good for living in the city plus I think they're adorable. Everything Sonny says about dogs is inspired by my own life.

Detective Dominick ‘Sonny’ Carisi came into Rafael’s office the same way he did everything else, loudly and without much grace. He opened the office door so forcefully it slammed against the wall as it swung open.

“Carisi, how can I help you?” Rafael asked, raising an eyebrow at the the detective’s appearance. He was wearing a lopsided grin and his face was slightly flushed, like he’d just run a lap around the building.

Carisi stepped forward and placed a manila folder on his desk. “I um, came here to drop these off, witness statements for the Jameson case.” 

Rafael grabbed the file and opened it up to examine it’s contents, From this distance Rafael could see Carisi was still slightly out of breath, and there was a bit of perspiration forming above his brow. Rafael thought it was good look for him, but it wasn’t very professional.

“You look a little flustered, chase down a criminal on the way over?” That wouldn’t exactly be surprising to Rafael. Carisi was that sort of Captain America type who would just drop whatever he was doing for ‘truth, justice, and the American way.’

Carisi laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “No, when I was walkin’ over I ran into this guy I know from law school. Michael, he was walkin’ his dog, Riceball. I, um, got kinda distracted petting her, ‘cause I’m a big fan of dogs in general but Riceball is really a sweetheart y’know?. Anyway, I realized I was taking a little long and Amanda is waitin’ for me back at the station so I kinda ran here.”

Ah, that explained his appearance, but not why he was so happy. Even though Carisi seemed embarrassed at having to explain himself to Rafael, he was still wearing that idiotic smile that put butterflies in Rafael’s stomach. He knew he should excuse the detective from his office now, let him meet up with Rollins for whatever important police business they had to take care of, but if Rafael was completely honest he was enjoying the opportunity to see him so happy about something. Some might call the smile on Carisi’s face adorable, not Rafael because he was a dignified man in his mid 40’s, but someone who had good taste and less pride could definitely use that word.

Rafael hummed thoughtfully at Carisi’s answer. “And you are grinning like you just won the lottery because…?”

“Oh!” Carisi said in surprise, like he hadn’t even thought that wearing an ear to ear smile in a district office was at all peculiar. “Like I said before, I’m a really big fan of dogs, way more than most people, y’know? And I’ve never had one of my own so whenever I see one it just kinda puts me in a really great mood.” He let out another embarrassed laugh and seem to cringe slightly at his own words.

Rafael furrowed his brow in confusion. “You’ve never had a dog before?” He’d always imagined Carisi growing up with his nuclear family on Staten Island and a golden retriever running around in their big backyard.

“Nah, I always wanted one, asked for a dog every birthday until I was about twelve, but my Mom’s really allergic. Thought I’d get one once I moved out but with school and then work I never really had the space or the money.” Carisi trailed off then, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring awkwardly at his shoes.

Rafael hadn’t meant to make the detective sad. Not that he cared because any positive feelings Rafael had for the detective were purely because of physical attraction. Besides It wasn’t his fault Carisi’s mood was apparently controlled by the presence or lack of canines. Rafael knew then would be a good time to shoo Carisi away, he would probably be glad to leave now that Rafael had effectively brought his mood down. But Rafael really did enjoy seeing Carisi smile, it ‘lit up the room’ as some people say. 

“I suppose that’s not the worst excuse, I’m also a bit of a dog person, I have a dachshund puppy.”

Carisi’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline as a surprised grin spread across his face. “You’ve got a puppy?” He stepped forward excitedly. “What’s it’s name?”

“Bonita, her name is Bonita, she’s three month old.” Rafael said, feeling quite pleased at the opportunity to talk about his new pet. 

He had debated getting a dog for a few years now. He was so busy and while his apartment was on the larger side it was still an apartment. But almost a month ago he saw Bonita in the window of his local pet shop, and well, how could he resist? Rafael had always been a sucker anything overly excitable and way too generous with their affection.

Case in point, Carisi looked like he was about to jump right out of his skin with joy, his hands moved wildly as he spoke. “She sounds adorable. Dachshunds are a great breed, especially for the city, they’re small and compact but they’re not little jerks like Chihuahuas and-” Carisi seemed to remember himself and shoved his hands back in his pockets. “Um, sorry, anyway, I better get going.”

He turned to leave then, and Rafael should’ve just taken the time to admire his ass and called it a day, but Rafael didn’t get this far in life by playing safe. “Would you like to meet her sometime?”

Carisi froze, hand in mid-air reaching for the doorknob, and turned on his heels, brows drawn together in confusion. “Like you’d bring her to the precinct?”

Rafael let out a scoff of disbelief at the idea of toting his five pound puppy around Manhattan SVU, what was he gonna do? Bring her to court? “No, I was actually thinking you could come over to my place and see her.” 

Ugh, what was he doing? He wasn’t some dumb frat boy who had to use dumb excuses to get hot girls up to his dorm room. If he wanted to date Carisi, which he most certainly didn’t because appreciating his smile was one thing but dating was out of the question, but if he did he would just ask Carisi out like a normal adult.

If Carisi had suspected any ulterior motives though, he certainly didn’t show it as his eyes light up like a child on christmas morning. “Seriously? I’d love to. I’m free tomorrow after work, I could um… cook you dinner as a thank you.” 

Rafael was going to say, no, he was too busy, Carisi should spend more time on law school or doing literally anything else besides cooking dinner for a 45 year old man who lives alone with a miniature dachshund. “I’ll see you there, Detective.” Damn it, he really needed to learn to listen to himself.

Carisi nodded rapidly before adding, “absolutely, oh, I hope you like Linguini. I really have to go now, Amanda’s gonna be pissed if I keep her waiting any longer.” then he practically skipped out of the room with excitement.

As soon as the door to his office closed Rafael let his head fall down onto his desk, what had he gotten himself into?

 

Rafael came home that night, tired as all hell and ready to collapse, but Bonita was just getting started. She ran down the hallway from his bedroom at break neck pace, running head first into Rafael’s legs before barking up at him impatiently.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said trying to take off his coat and put down his briefcase without tripping over the hyper puppy. “I’ll play with you, just give me a second.” 

After finally shedding all his extra bulk, Rafael kneeled down to pick Bonita up, holding her in his lap as he sat down on his couch. She squirmed under his hands, trying to jump down onto the ground, but Rafael quickly calmed her with a few scratches behind her left ear. He leaned his head down to place a quick kiss to the top of her head and speak softly against her fur.

“Before I let you go so you can play, and I can change your puppy pads, I need to ask for some advice. There’s this guy I work with, a detective, he’s kind, funny in an annoying way, and handsome if I’m being completely honest. He’s coming over tomorrow to meet you and cook me dinner and I am afraid that I might accidentally reveal this little crush I’ve been nursing for him, and he might return my feelings. Which could be good for a little bit but will definitely end horribly because we are complete opposites.” He inhaled the scent of fur one more time before lifting his head to stare blankly out the window in front of him. “So I’m wondering what you think I should do?”

Bonita wiggled around wildly until Rafael let go of her, expecting that she would jump out of his lap and run away. Instead she started to desperately try to climb up his chest, jumping up and down to lick at the underside of his jaw.

“Ok, ok,” Rafael said laughing despite himself as he tried to hold her away from his face. “I will consider that option.”


End file.
